1. Field of the Disclosure
The embodiments described herein relate to a camouflage system that may be applied to an article that may include a design, brand, logo, name, symbol, and/or mark incorporated into the camouflage system and a method of using the camouflage system. The design, brand, logo, name, symbol, and/or mark positioned below a camouflage layer of the system may affect the appearance of the camouflage layer. The camouflage layer over the design, brand, logo, name, symbol, and/or mark may affect the visual appearance so that the design, brand, logo, name, symbol, and/or mark is highly visible at one viewing angle and less visible or non-visible at a different viewing angle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Water transfer printing has been used to apply an ink pattern, such as camouflage pattern, to the surface of an article, such as to the surface of components of a firearm. The ink pattern is formed onto a water soluble film or backing, such as a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) based film. The ink pattern may include clear portions randomly located throughout the pattern that permits the color on the surface to be viewable. For example, many typical camouflage patterns consist of various randomly positioned colors on the PVA film separated portions of the PVA film not including any ink. The water soluble film containing the ink pattern is placed onto the surface of a water bath causing the backing to dissolve leaving the ink pattern suspended on the surface of the water bath. An article may then be dipped into the water bath wherein the suspended ink pattern is transferred the surface of the article.
Prior to dipping the article in the water bath, the surface of the article is prepared so that the ink pattern adheres to the surface. For example, most commercially available camouflage patterns dictate that a specific color of base paint be applied to the surface of the article so that the camouflage layer when applied to the surface of the article has the intended appearance. Typically, an adhesion promoter, primer, and/or seal coat needs to be added to the surface of the article prior to the application of the base paint so that the base paint adheres to the surface. Any application of a substance to a surface of an article that promotes the adherence of a base paint may be considered an adhesion promoter, primer, and/or seal coat.
One potential problem with conventional camouflage systems is using the camouflage pattern along with providing a brand or logo on the article. The majority of camouflage systems do not permit the incorporation of a brand or logo with the camouflage pattern. Instead, a masking technique may be used to create a brand or logo by prohibiting the camouflage pattern from adhering to the masked area. The brand or logo is not incorporated into the pattern, but rather created by the absence of the pattern. If a brand or logo is inserted into the camouflage pattern itself, the brand or logo may not be positioned or orientated in the proper manner due to dipping the surface of an article into ink that is suspended on a water bath. The ink pattern is usually allowed to orientate itself onto the surface which may locate the brand or logo in a less than desired location or at a less than desired orientation.
A sticker in the form of a brand or logo may be applied to the surface of an article after applying a camouflage pattern to the surface. However, such a sticker is applied above the camouflage pattern covering up and obscuring the camouflage pattern. Stickers applied to over the camouflage pattern to brand the component may detract from the camouflage pattern itself